Thinking Geographically Chapter 1

Warm-Up Thought Journal Give at least one example of a geographical characteristic, and a cultural characteristic for each of the four regions shown.

The Two Broad Geographic Categories Human Geography −Human Activities Physical Geography −Natural Forces Common Thread: Both Ask Where and Why Questions. If Historians organize using time, Geographers use place.

Human Geography Human Geography: is the study of the interaction between people and their environment. In other words, how do people affect and change their environment? In today’s world, geographers observe that people are being pulled by two factors −Globalization −Local Diversity

KEY ISSUE ONE How do Geographers describe where things are?

Physical Geography Map: A map is a flat scale model of the real world. Cartography: The science of map making.

Let’s think…What can maps tell us?

Early Mapmaking Babylonians – Earliest Surviving – 2300BC Aristotle – Spherical, Shadows, Stars Eratosthenes= father of geography. Think about 1571 vs. today and Satellite Imagery

How Have Maps Changed?

Map Scale Scale: The relationship of a feature’s size on a map to its actual size on earth. Presented 3 ways: Fraction 1/25,000 In other words… 1 unit on the map = 25,000 of the same unit on the ground. Ratio 1:25,000 Bar Scale

Large Scale shows greater detail representative fraction is large. 1/25,000 Small Scale shows less detail representative fraction is small 1/250,000

Are the following large or small scale

Projection Projection: The scientific method of transferring locations on the Earth’s surface to a flat map. Drawing a round shape on a flat surface, causes distortion. What problems do you notice here?

What can we say about Robinson Projection? Good for viewing oceans, but in turn distorts land areas (makes them smaller).

Map Projection Distortion −Shape −Distance −Relative Area −Direction Problems −Spherical Nature of Earth −Globe −3-D Equal Area Projection Map

Land Ordinance of 1785 Divided much of the country into a system of townships and ranges to facilitate the sale of land to settlers in the West. Townships −6 miles on each side −Principle Meridians: run N/S −Base Lines : rung E/W −36 Sections (1mile x 1mile) −T22N, R1W is Township 22 north of baseline, Range 1 west of principle meridian.

Contemporary Tools Beyond The Map −GIS Systems −Remote Sensing −GPS Systems GIS (geographic information system): A computer system the stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data. −Layers of information can be used to determine and compare relationships −Can be used separately or together −Cobb County GIS

Remote Sensing: Acquisition of data about Earth’s surface from a satellite orbiting Earth or from other long-distance methods. On the LIDAR image above the following colors correspond with the following elevations relative to mean sea level. COLORValue (meters)Value (feet) Dark Green to to 0 Green0 to 300 to Yellow30 to to Magenta100 to to Red150 to to

GPS (Global Positioning System) GPS: A system that determines accurately the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations and receivers. Location is usually accurate to +/- 5 centimeters.

Key Issue Two Why is each point on Earth unique? What do you notice about Amsterdam?

Toponym… name given to any place on Earth. Can be named for a person. −Marietta named for wife of Senator Thomas Cobb Can be religious. −St. Paul, MN named for Saint Paul. Can be historical. −Athens, GA and Rome, GA for that matter. Can be descriptive. −Warm Springs, GA Can tell you about the way an area was colonized. −New York… York is a province in England so the English named the city in the “new land” New York. When the Dutch owned it, it was New Amsterdam

Site= physical character of a place. Includes climate, topography, etc. Important in selecting a location for settlement.

Situation= location of a place relative to other locations. Helps us find an unfamiliar place by comparing it to a familiar one. Example: The park is one block past the Big Chicken. Helps us understand the importance of a location. Example: Dubai, UAE is has become important in world oil distributions because of it’s location near the St. of Hormuz.

Mathematical Location = exact or absolute location Meridians are North/South. Longitude. Prime Meridian= 0° (180 is opposite) Parallels are East/West. Latitude. Equator=0° Sprayberry’s Mathematical Location is 34° 0′ 43.2″ N, 84° 29′ 49.2″ W ( ‘=seconds and “=minutes)

Atlanta, Georgia Place Name: Atlanta, Georgia Site: Lies on the central piedmont which extends to the fall line of the rivers. South of the most southerly of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the northeast and north central portion of the state. Above and to the north of the coastal plain, which levels to the coastal flatlands. Situation: Urban Metropolis which is centrally located in the southeast portion of the United States, in an ideal location for trade and travel. Mathematical Location: Location: N, W

Time Zones International date line is 180° from Prime Meridian/GMT 24 time zones of 15 degrees each (360 degrees total)

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) Designated by an international agreement, making it the master reference time for all points on Earth.

REGIONS Apply to a larger area rather than a specific point. Gets it’s character from the cultural landscape. Compare the cultural landscape of the South to the West. Assumes people are the most important agents of change to Earth’s surface. The SouthThe West Language Religion Industry Agriculture

Why is Each Point on Earth Unique? Regions Areas of Unique Characteristics

Formal Region Uniform region… everyone shares one or more common characteristics. How are the following formal regions? What conclusions can you draw?

Functional Region Organized around a node or a focal point. The characteristic chosen is strongest at the center of the region and diminishes outward into hinterland. (Newspapers, economics, etc)

Vernacular Region Region that people perceive… they believe it exists as part of their cultural identity. If I asked you to draw a mental map of the south… what would you draw????

Culture What people care about. What people take care of. Cultural ecology= study of human environment interaction. Environmental determinism= how the physical environment caused social development.

Possibilism The physical environment may limit some human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to their environment.

Global Environmental Processes Physical - Needed to understand human distribution, such as where people live and what they eat −Climate −Vegetation −Soil −Landforms

Physical Processes: Koppen Climate System How does climate relate to population distribution?

Physical Processes: Vegetation

Physical Process: Soil Erosion and depletion of natural resources are concerns.

Physical Processes: Landforms Topographic maps show landforms. Relief is the distance in elevation between two points and measures the extent of hilly vs. flat. The closer the contour lines the steeper… farther apart=flatter. How is population distribution related to topography?

Case Study questions from your reading… (pages 28 – 30) How/ why is The Netherlands an example of sensitive environmental modification? How/ why is Florida an example of not-so-sensitive environmental modification?

Sensitive Environmental Modifications Netherlands The Dutch considerably altered the site of the Netherlands, through the continuous creation of polders and dikes. “God made the Earth, and the Dutch made the Netherlands.”

Not-So-Sensitive Environmental Modifications Barrier Islands Wetlands – between Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades Kissimmee River “God made the world and Florida in six days, and the Army Corps of Engineers has been tinkering with it ever since.”

Discussion: School Placement Where should we place a new Cobb County High School. Why did you choose that location? What geographical factors played into your decision?

Key Issue Three Why are different places similar? Johannesburg, South Africa Shanghai, China

Scale… from global to local. Scale of the world is shrinking… globalization. Globalization of economy led by transnational corporations.

APHGSHS, A Transnational Corporation APHGSHS is a transnational corporation headquartered in Marietta, GA. The company was started by APHG students and it manufactures Yellow Jackets that are extremely warm and make the person wearing the jacket able to teleport to a different time and place. Because of this the company has become a billion dollar corporation selling to billions world wide.

Using the map below we need to decide where to put…. Our regional headquarters (we can have 3) Major distribution (sales and service… can have 6) Research and development (can have 2) Manufacturing (can have 3)

Why can transnational corporations exist???? Modern technology provides the ability to −Move money easily −Move materials easily −Move and sell finished products easily. −** Space-Time Compression is the reduction in time it takes for something to reach another place. Transnational corporations remain competitive by identifying the optimal location for all of their activities… like we did with our Yellow Jacket Corporation.

Distribution= arrangement of features DENSITY = how often CONCENTRATION = how spread out Vs.

ARITHMETIC DENSITY The total number of objects or people in an area. (If measuring people, would take # of people and divide by area) A large population does not necessarily mean a high arithmetic density. China is most populous (1.3 billion people, but 140/sq.km) vs. The Netherlands which has a small amount of people ( 16 million, but 400/sq.km)

PHYSIOLOGICAL DENSITY Number of people per unit area of arable land, (land suitable for agriculture). Higher density, more difficulty the country has feeding its people.

AGRICULURAL DENSITY Number of farmers per unit of arable farmland.

CONCENTRATION If features are close, they are clustered. If features are farther apart, they are dispersed.

Pattern: The geometric arrangement of objects in spaces/regions. Patterns of MLB teams change as population changes/ spreads. In first picture they are in a concentrated pattern. In second picture they are in a dispersed pattern.

Concentration is NOT the same as density. Two neighborhoods can have the same density, but in different concentrations. −Picture A= 24 houses −Picture B= 32 houses −They sit on the same amount of land, so a has a lower density, but they both have dispersed locations. −Picture C has a high concentration.

Diffusion Process by which connections are made between places/ regions. Hearth Hearth= place where innovation or idea orginates.

Distance Decay The farther away two groups… the less like they will interact Contact diminishes with distance and eventually disappears... This is distance decay. Can be cultural group or econ activity… example people will only travel so far for a convenience store, but will travel a long distance for a superstore.

RELOCATION DIFFUSION Spread of an idea through physical movement of people from one place to another.

EXPANSION DIFFUSION Spread of an idea or feature by a snowballing process. Can be: −Hierarchical Diffusion: to spread by authority/power. −Contagious Diffusion: rapid, widespread diffusion throughout a population without relocation… is contagious. −Stimulus Diffusion: spark that starts something… spread of a principle even if actual characteristic fails to catch on.

Diffusion of culture and economy has not been equal… this is known as uneven development. Three core Hearth Regions −United States −Western Europe −Japan Those less developed countries in the periphery. −Ethiopia −Pakistan −Haiti IN CONTRAST TO